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Nemesis (episode)
Chakotay is trapped on a planet where two species are fighting a genocidal war against each other. Summary Commander Chakotay is captured walking at night in a jungle on a Delta Quadrant world by the Vori when his shuttle is shot down during a survey mission. They quickly decide he is not a threat to them and decide integrate him into their team. They tell Chakotay of the "Beast", the enemy they are fighting against. Chakotay explains to the soldiers that he needs to contact his vessel, the . He cannot reach the ship using his combadge, as the Kradin, the species hostile to the Vori, have disabled communications in the battle zone. Brone, the leader of the Fourth Vori Defense Contingent, assigns Namon to guide Chakotay to the wreckage of his downed shuttle. Brone advises Chakotay to wait for the dawn or the "new light", as he calls it before leaving. The Vori speak an odd language which Chakotay easily picks up, mostly from engaging in conversation with a Vori youth named Rafin, who is teased by Namon on his inexperience in combat, as well as his nervousness in battle. Chakotay tries to relate Rafin to a young Kradin soldier out there who might be as afraid as he is to fight. During this, Rafin informs Chakotay on why the Vori hate the Kradin so much, such as their appearance, the burning seen in their eyes. Rafin's motivation for hatred of the Kradin stems from the destruction of Rafin's home village as well as their killing of Rafin's relatives. The next day, while walking with Namon to search for the shuttle's wreckage, Chakotay tells him of his battles back in the Alpha Quadrant with the Cardassians, when he asks the commander if he has ever killed before. Chakotay tells the soldier that it was the worst thing he has ever had to do. Namon tells Chakotay that if he were a Vori, he would crave to drive off the Kradin from their world just as he does. Chakotay and Namon discover a small piece of the shuttle on the ground, and Voyager s first officer remarks that there does not seem to be much left of his shuttle. Just then, he and Namon come under attack from two Kradin. Namon is hit, but he fires off a shot before falling which happens to kill one. Chakotay rushes the other and manages to take his weapon. "Don't make me kill you!", he shouts at the Kradin soldier. The Kradin is shot anyway shortly after by Brone and Namon is declared "nullified". During Namon's memorial, Chakotay learns about the Vori's culture, specifically their burial rituals, like how they bury their bodies downturned. Afterwards, Chakotay is given Namon's uniform, as his Starfleet uniform is noticeable enough to draw attention by the Kradin. He then goes through some basic training from Rafin, particularly in Vori firearms and later, his group sets off to meet a second group, the seventh contingent. When they arrive at the rendezvous point, they discover that the other group has been slaughtered and desecrated. The Kradin arrive and quickly kill most of Chakotay's group, including Rafin, but he manages to escape to a nearby village. There he is greeted and treated as a hero by some Vori. He becomes friends with a young Vori girl named Karya. She asks him to deliver a letter to her brother, Daryo, who is fighting in the seventh defense contingent, which was ambushed and annihilated by Kradin forces. Chakotay agrees to drop off her letter at a restock unit despite this. The next day the Vori village is attacked by the Kradin and most of the villagers, including Penno, Karya's grandfather, are marched off to extermination centers. After Karya is taken away herself, this enrages Chakotay and he attacks the Kradin commandant but is easily overpowered. The villagers seem doomed. Meanwhile, the crew of Voyager is concerned about the fate of Chakotay on the planet's surface. Janeway has Neelix contact an ambassador named Treen and invite him to beam aboard the ship in order to discuss how they can find Chakotay. Lieutenant Tuvok suggests that he should go down to the planet to search for Chakotay on his own, despite Lieutenant Tom Paris's objections. Tuvok alone will join a commando group from the Kradin to expedite his search for Chakotay. When Ambassador Treen arrives, it is revealed that the Voyager crew has been negotiating with the Kradin, not the Vori. After managing to escape, Chakotay is approached by a single Kradin and almost shoots him but he discovers that the Kradin is actually Tuvok. Brone, injured, shouts to Chakotay to ignore this, as it is a Kradin tactic. He is taken away by a Kradin officer. To prove that everything Chakotay had experienced was a delusion, Tuvok then leads him back to the village, where Chakotay is greeted by the people who should have been exterminated earlier that day and in a scene that was nearly identical to his first experience there. Back on Voyager, The Doctor reveals that Chakotay has undergone extensive psychological conditioning and training to hate the Kradin. Everything he had experienced up to that day had been an illusion as part of the training. Apparently, risking his life to attack a Kradin officer was enough to promote him to active duty in the Vori's conditioning. Kradin ambassador Treen enters sickbay to talk to Chakotay, but Chakotay says nothing and after a tense, angry silence storms out of the room. In the corridor outside sickbay, Chakotay remarks to Janeway, "I wish it were as easy to stop hating as it was to start." He continues to walk away. Log entries *''"Captain's log, stardate 51082.4. After searching for more than two days, we finally located what's left of Commander Chakotay's shuttle. I can only hope the commander has fared better than his vessel."'' *''"Captain's log, stardate 51096.5. Although Lieutenant Tuvok has managed to bring Commander Chakotay safely back to the ship, it may be some time before his psychological wounds are fully healed."'' Memorable quotes "How is he?" "Nullified." : - Chakotay and Rafin, after Namon was shot "Welcome aboard, Ambassador. Thank you for agreeing to help us find our crewman." "Your thanks are unnecessary, Captain. Any victim of our bloodthirsty nemesis, the Vori, will always find friends among the Kradin people." : - Janeway and Treen "If we greet the nemesis in the trunks, you'll fire like the rest. As long as you're with us, you do my tellings. Fathom?" "Fathom." : - Brone and Chakotay "Motherless beast!" : - Chakotay, as he repeatedly punches the Kradin commandant "From the condition of your hypothalamus, I'd say they had you so mixed up they could have convinced you your own mother was a turnip." : - The Doctor, to Chakotay "I wish it were as easy to stop hating as it was to start." : - Chakotay to Janeway "You are a scientist, an explorer. You are not a killer." : - Tuvok, to Chakotay Background information Production history * Production number: 011-40840-171 * Final draft script: http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/lilly/mss/subfile/taylorjinv.html * Working title: "The Recruit" * Filming: ** Day 1 – , Tuesday – Paramount Stage 8: Captain's ready room, briefing room; Paramount Stage 9: Corridor, sickbay, transporter room ** Day 2 – , Wednesday – Paramount Stage 16: Ext. Forest ** Day 3 – , Thursday – Paramount Stage 16: Larhana settlement, alien campsite, int. caves ** Day 4 – , Friday – Paramount Stage 16: Commando campsite ** Day 5 – , Monday – Warner Bros. backlot: Larhana settlement, ext. woods ** Day 6 – , Tuesday – Warner Bros. backlot: Larhana settlement ** Day 7 – , Wednesday – Paramount Stage 16: Ext. Forest/woods ** Day 8 – , Thursday – Paramount Stage 16: Ext. Woods, commando campsite, ext. forest ** 2nd Unit – , Tuesday – Paramount Stage 9: Ext. Forest (blue screen) * Airdate: Story and script * This episode had the working title "The Recruit". http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/lilly/mss/subfile/taylorjinv.html The episode's ultimately-used title (along with ) later served as the subtitle of one of the Next Generation motion pictures (namely, ). * During the first day of production on this episode, executive producer Jeri Taylor stated, "It's a story about how people can be taught to hate, about propaganda, and about how wars can come out of a conscious attempt to impose hate in people. It's one of those stories that is supposed to make you think a little bit." (Star Trek Monthly issue 31, p. 14) Writer Kenneth Biller himself remarked, "We set out to explore the whole nature of propaganda." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 81) * The Vori language seems strange, but it merely substitutes various words with lesser-known synonyms (e.g., "glimpses" instead of "sees" or "eyes"). Referencing the medieval author , Janeway actress Kate Mulgrew commented about the Vori's vernacular, "Almost Chaucerian, they speak in what is like Old English." (Star Trek Monthly issue 32, p. 9) Regarding the creation of this communication style, Ken Biller commented, "I tried to create an interesting language for the aliens. Our aliens either sound too Human or they sound kind of hokey, and it's tough to find a balance. I decided to try to do something that was more stylized, where the language itself became part of the indoctrination, so that they spoke differently than our people do, and Chakotay began to speak with their language as he became more and more indoctrinated into this culture." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 81) Cast and characters * In the interview that Jeri Taylor gave on the first day of this episode's production period, Taylor noted that the installment presented an opportunity to remedy a feeling that the character of Chakotay (as played by Robert Beltran) was not utilized enough at the end of the previous season: "Chakotay is a wonderful character played by a wonderful actor and, in the second half of the [Season 3|[third season]], we didn't find enough good stuff for him to do. So we are addressing that early on this season with a very strong episode for him." (Star Trek Monthly issue 31, p. 14) Indeed, the episode so centrally features the character of Chakotay that Kate Mulgrew once described the installment (referring indirectly to the Vori) by stating, " Nemesis' is just Robert Beltran alone, with a very bizarre species." (Star Trek Monthly issue 32, p. 9) * Kate Mulgrew had high hopes for this episode. She predicted, "It should be interesting." (Star Trek Monthly issue 32, p. 9) * Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine) does not appear in this episode. It is the only episode, after she joined the cast of Star Trek: Voyager, in which she does not appear. Though Ryan was not part of this episode, she was on set on the first day of production, , to film additional scenes for on second unit. The call sheet is listing her makeup call at 5:30 am. Production * Director Alexander Singer spent hours thinking about how to depict the episode's elaborate planet setting and how to overcome the related limitations. "We had to create a wooded forest that had many different aspects in both day and night," he recalled. "There were many scenes that each had to look special and different. I spent many hours studying the possibilities." (Star Trek: Communicator issue 119, p. 64) * Ultimately, Ken Biller was pleased with the creation of the planet's jungle environment. "We did two location days on that show (on the Warner Bros. backlot), and then built a great jungle set," Biller explained, "so you can't really tell what's on the stage and what's on location. (Production designer) Richard James did a really great job." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 81) * Makeup supervisor Michael Westmore was conscious of making the Kradin physically similar to Nausicaans, first seen in . "The bad-looking good guys of ST:VOY's 'Nemesis', the Kradin, resembled the Nausicaans from ST:TNG but in a nastier way," Westmore commented, "with the mouth opened a little more and the hair not quite as beaded and braided." (Star Trek Monthly issue 42, pp. 82-83) * The Kradin uniforms were reuses of Mokra Order uniforms from the second season installment . ( , p. 200) * The PADD that Karya gives to Chakotay, with a letter for her brother, Daryo, is a reuse of a PADD containing schematics for the Etanian Order starship, from the third season episode . * The Kradin and the Vori are armed with contemporary weapons. ( , p. 200) * According to the unauthorized reference book (p. 200), the Kradin aircraft were s modified with CGI. Continuity * The makeup of the Kradin resembles not only that of the Nausicaans but also that of Fek'lhr from , as well as the aliens from the Predator movies, giving the Kradin an archetypal vicious and untrustworthy appearance despite their good intentions. * This is the third episode in a row wherein a Voyager shuttlecraft is lost. In , a shuttle is lost when Kes evolves; in , the is destroyed by the Caatati; and here, Chakotay loses a third. * The firearm used by the Vori is a Ruger Mini-14 fitted with a Muzzelite bullpup stock, model MZ14. The Kradin firearm is also a modified assault rifle, the AKU-94 modification of a Kalashnikov. Reception * Jeri Taylor once enthusiastically described this episode as "a script by Kenneth Biller that I love." Taylor then said, "He's written it in a very interesting and original fashion." (Star Trek Monthly issue 31, p. 14) She also cited this episode as "one of the strongest" of "some very interesting Chakotay shows" in the series and went on to say, "I was terribly pleased with that." (Star Trek Monthly issue 36, pp. 12 & 13) * Ken Biller himself was very proud of this episode. Regarding the task of setting out to explore the issue of propaganda, Biller enthused, "We did it fairly successfully." Speaking more generally about the installment, he continued, "Disappointments with it were that I think we shouldn't have said at the end that everything was a simulation. It should have been clear that some of these other young soldiers were also being recruited in the same way that Chakotay was. 'Nemesis' was probably, of what I did, my favorite of the year. It came out really pretty well, and it had a good twist." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 81) * This episode achieved a Nielsen rating of 4.5 million homes, and a 7% share. http://voyagerview.com/review2.html * Cinefantastique rated this episode 2 and a half out of 4 stars. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 80) * Star Trek Monthly scored this episode 3 out of 5 stars. (Star Trek Monthly issue 37, p. 61) * The unauthorized reference book (p. 201) gives this installment a rating of 7 out of 10. Video and DVD releases * UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 4.2, * As part of the VOY Season 4 DVD collection Links and references Starring * Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway Also starring * Robert Beltran as Chakotay * Roxann Dawson as B'Elanna Torres * Robert Duncan McNeill as Tom Paris * Ethan Phillips as Neelix * Robert Picardo as The Doctor * Tim Russ as Tuvok * Garrett Wang as Harry Kim Guest stars * Michael Mahonen as Brone * Matt E. Levin as Rafin * Nathan Anderson as Namon * Peter Vogt as Kradin Commandant * Booth Colman as Penno * Meghan Murphy as Karya Co-stars * Terrence Evans as Ambassador Treen * Marilyn Fox as Marna * Pancho Demmings as Kradin Soldier Uncredited co-stars * Tulsy Ball as Vori commando * Millie Baron as Vori villager * Mac Beers as Vori villager * Linda Bell as Vori villager * Angela Bertolino as Vori villager * B'Jahn as Vori villager * Chuck Borden as ** Kradin commando ** Kradin soldier * Michelle Butler as Vori villager * George Cambio as Vori commando * Mary Cervantez as Vori villager * Carol Cetrone as Vori villager * Louis Coleman as Vori villager * Misty Dickinson as Vori villager * Torrey Dickinson as Vori villager * Maureen Flaherty as Vori villager * Tom Gianelli as Vori commando * John Gipson as Vori villager * Glenn Goldstein as Vori commando * Linda Gucciardo as Vori villager * Brian Hall as Vori commando * Norman Joseph as Vori villager * Tam "Egypt" Lee as Vori commando * Mark Major as dead Vori * Cazimir Milostan as Vori commando * Tom Morga as ** Kradin commando ** Kradin soldier * Louis Ortiz as ** Kradin guard ** Kradin soldier * Monica Peterson as Vori villager * Steve Race as Vori commando * Jerry Sherman as Vori villager * Joey Spagnola as Vori villager * David Winburn as ** Kradin guard ** Kradin soldier * Kristen Wong as Vori villager Stunt doubles * David Balcorta as stunt double for Robert Beltran * Johnny Martin as stunt double for Matt E. Levin * Paul Short as stunt double for Peter Vogt Stand-ins * John Austin – stand-in for Terrence Evans * Carl David Burks – stand-in for Robert Beltran * Sue Henley – stand-in for Kate Mulgrew and utility stand-in * June Jordan – stand-in for Meghan Murphy * Susan Lewis – stand-in for Roxann Dawson * Lemuel Perry – stand-in for Tim Russ and Pancho Demmings * J.R. Quinonez – stand-in for Robert Picardo, Nathan Anderson, Michael Mahonen, and Matt E. Levin * Keith Rayve – stand-in for Robert Duncan McNeill, Nathan Anderson, and Peter Vogt * Jennifer Riley – stand-in for Marilyn Fox * Ron – stand-in for Matt E. Levin and Booth Colman * Richard Sarstedt – stand-in for Robert Beltran * Simon Stotler – stand-in for Ethan Phillips and Michael Mahonen * John Tampoya – stand-in for Garrett Wang References 2374; ambassador; bad breath; biochemical weapon; blanket; brainwashing; brother; canteen; Cardassian; clay mark; crash landing; Daryo; elder; extermination facility; flower garland; gag; girl; Gloried Way After; graduation; grandfather; hypothalamus; intelligence report; Kradin; Kradin fighter; "Krady beast"; Larhana settlement; letter; logic; mind control; novice; omicron radiation; photometric projection; propaganda; psychotropic manipulation; radiation; rotting; scout walker; shuttlecraft; team leader; turnip; unnamed planet; village; Vori; Vori Defense Contingent; Vori language; war; warrior; wayafter External links * * * * |next= }} de:Nemesis (Episode) es:Nemesis fr:Nemesis (épisode) nl:Nemesis Category:VOY episodes